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Zelda May Rubinstein (May 28, 1933 – January 27, 2010) was an American actress and human rights activist, known as eccentric medium Tangina Barrons in the Poltergeist film series. Playing "Ginny", she was a regular on David E. Kelley's Emmy Award-winning television series Picket Fences for two seasons. She also made guest appearances in the TV show (1996), as Clairvoyance Christina, and was the voice of Skittles candies in their long-running "Taste the Rainbow" ad campaign. Rubinstein was also known for her outspoken activism for Dwarfism and her early participation in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Zelda Rubinstein and Heather O'Rourke were the only cast members to have appeared in all three Poltergeist films.
She was the only dwarf in her family. Her stature was due to a deficiency of the anterior pituitary gland, which produces growth hormone. Rubinstein did not become comfortable with her short stature until she was an adult. In a 1992 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Rubinstein told the newspaper that she "had a rough childhood, but I became very verbally facile ... I learned to meet everyone head-on." In adulthood at her tallest, she stood tall Commenting in 2002 on the challenges of being a midget, Rubinstein said, "Midgets are societally handicapped. They have about two minutes to present themselves as equals—and if they don't take advantage of that chance, then people fall back on the common assumption that 'less' is less."
Rubinstein won a scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh, where she earned her bachelor's degree in bacteriology and became a sister of the national sorority Phi Sigma Sigma. At age 25, she continued her studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where she also studied acting.
Film critic Pauline Kael, who essentially dismissed Poltergeist as an "entertaining hash", held special praise for Rubinstein's portrayal of the psychic Tangina, saying she "gives the movie new life and makes a large chunk of it work." Rubenstein remained active in film and television thereafter, frequently portraying various psychic characters, such as her appearance on Jennifer Slept Here. She also narrated the horror television series Scariest Places on Earth, which aired in the US on ABC Family and in Canada on YTV.
Rubinstein's other film roles included Sixteen Candles, Under the Rainbow, Cages, Teen Witch, The Wildcard, Southland Tales and National Lampoon's Last Resort. She also contributed voice-over work for TV including Hey Arnold!, and The Flintstones. She made numerous guest appearances on network TV shows, including Caroline in the City, Martin, Mr. Belvedere, and had a recurring role as sheriff's assistant Ginny Weedon in the TV series Picket Fences. Her character there was killed off in typical offbeat fashion, by falling into a freezer early in the third season. She also appeared in an episode of Tales From The Crypt in which she played the mother of a girl who has been dead for 40 years. She also starred in two different roles on Santa Barbara in 1984 and in 1990.
Beginning in 1999, she performed for television, starting with the Fox Family reality TV show Scariest Places on Earth over its multiple seasons. This was followed by work in commercials promoting movies such as Lady in the Water and products including Skittles candy. Her last film role came in 2007 when she made a cameo appearance in the horror film . She also appeared in a cameo as herself at the Revenge of the Mummy ride in Universal Studios Florida on the screens which shows various actors from the films warning the people to leave, telling them about the curse of Imhotep.
Additionally, she became active in the fight against HIV/AIDS in 1984. She appeared in a series of advertisements, directed towards gay men specifically, promoting safe sex and AIDS awareness. Rubinstein did so at risk to her own career, especially so shortly after her rise to fame, and admitted later that she did "pay a price, career-wise." "I lost a friend to AIDS, one of the first public figures that died of AIDS," the actress said in an interview with The Advocate. "I knew it was not the kind of disease that would stay in anybody's backyard. It would climb the fences, get over the fences into all of our homes. It was not limited to one group of people." She attended the first AIDS Project Los Angeles AIDS Walk.
Rubinstein died in Los Angeles on January 27, 2010. She was 76 years old. Eric Stevens, Rubinstein's agent for four years, said the actress never recovered from a mild heart attack several months earlier, which he said had left her a patient at Barlow Respiratory Hospital in Los Angeles. "She had several pre-existing conditions that she had been dealing with for years, and unfortunately they began to overtake her," Stevens said. Stevens also said that at Rubinstein's request, no funeral would be held.
Career
Rubenstein worked as a medical laboratory technician at . However, in 1978, she decided to pursue an acting career. She studied acting at the University of California. Poltergeist was her first major film role.
Human rights and activism
Rubinstein was an advocate for "the rights of dwarfism (the term she preferred)." She was a founding member of the Michael Dunn Memorial Repertory Theater, started in 1981. The theater group's tallest performer was .
Personal life and death
Rubinstein lived in London for several years when she worked as a laboratory technician. After returning to the US, she lived in the Greater Los Angeles, California, area for many years.
Filmography
Films
+ List of film credits 1979 Americathon Act 1981 Under the Rainbow Iris 1982 Poltergeist Tangina Barrons Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress 1982 Frances Mental Patient Credited as Zelda Rubenstein 1983 Daughter 1984 Sixteen Candles Organist 1986 Tangina Barrons Nominated-Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress 1987 Anguish Alice Pressman, the Mother Alternative title: Angustia 1988 Poltergeist III Tangina Barrons Nominated-Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated-Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress1989 Teen Witch Madame Serena Alcott 1991 Guilty as Charged Edna 1994 National Lampoon's Last Resort Old Hermit Alternative titles: Last Resort, National Lampoon's Scuba School 1995 Timemaster Betting Clerk 1996 Lover's Knot Woman in Clinic 1996 Little Witches Mother Clodah 1997 Mama Dolly Mama Dolly 1997 Critics and Other Freaks Theatre Director 1998 Sinbad: The Battle of the Dark Knights Princess Shalazar 1999 Frank in Five Waitress 2000 Maria & Jose Doctor 2002 Wishcraft Medical Examiner 2004 Mrs. Stanfield Direct-to-DVD release 2005 Cages Liz 2005 Angels with Angles Zelda the Angel 2006 Unbeatable Harold Bunny 2006 Southland Tales Dr. Katarina Kuntzler 2006 Mrs. Collinwood Cameo 2014 Strange Matters Agnes Sampson Posthumous release (final film role) + List of television credits 1980 The Flintstone Comedy Show Atrocia Frankenstone (Voice) 1 episode 1983 Jennifer Slept Here 1 episode 1983 Matt Houston Flower Girl 1 episode 1984 Whiz Kids Madame Zerleena 1 episode 1984 Santa Barbara Mental Patient 1 episode 1986 ABC Weekend Special Ralph's Mother 1 episode 1987 1 episode 1987 Faerie Tale Theatre Old Woman 1 episode 1987 Reading Rainbow Herself (Voice) 1 episode 1987 Sable Sister Glory 1 episode 1990 Santa Barbara Gladys Bittleworth, ghost psychic 5 episodes 1990 Mr. Belvedere Murphy 1 episode 1991 Darkwing Duck Darkwing Duck's Mother / Negaduck's Mother 1 episode 1991 Butterfingers O'Malley Television movie 1992 Stormy Weathers Rosamund Television movie 1992 Goof Troop Madame Zeldarina 1 episode 1992 Tales from the Crypt Nora 1 episode 1992–1994 Picket Fences Ginny Weedon 44 episodes 1993 Acting on Impulse Nosy Lady Television movie 1996 Christina 1 episode 1997 Martin Nurse Froyd 1 episode 1997 Chock 2 - Kött Mother Television movie 1998 Caroline in the City Phyllis 1 episode 1999 Hey Arnold! Patty's Mother (Voice) 1 episode 2000 Pawn shop lady 1 episode 2000–2006 Scariest Places on Earth Narrator 41 episodes 2001 Dr. Schwartzen Quartz (Voice) Television movie
Notes
External links
Categories: 1933 Births, 2010 Deaths, Actresses From Pittsburgh, American Actors With Dwarfism, American Film Actresses, American Television Actresses, American Voice Actresses, University Of Pittsburgh Alumni, University Of California, Berkeley Alumni, Actresses From Berkeley, California, Actresses From Los Angeles, Jewish American Actresses, American People Of Polish-jewish Descent, Deaths From Kidney Failure In California, Deaths From Lung Disease, 20th-century American Actresses, 21st-century American Actresses, Aids Activists, Jewish American Activists, Jewish Human Rights Activists, 21st-century American Jews, American Activists With Disabilities
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